So What's Up With Those See Through Front Doors?

When I was a kid playing with this house, I never pondered why there was not one solid door or wall (closet and its doors notwithstanding), I just knew this set was big, bright, airy and afforded countless hours of play. So, now that I am a grown up, after countless hours studying, renovating and loving this house, I wonder, just what is the real life inspiration behind those breezy front doors? While I have previously posted real life photos of wrought iron patio gates that lead to a home's front doors that look like our house's front doors, I found some new images that may help shed more light (no pun intended) on this subject. Here you can see the house is heavily influenced by mid century mod architectural cues. Luckily, this trend has returned to pop cultural awareness, and there are even companies making decorative breeze blocks again. =-)

Affordable Housing : Where and How to get a decent house for under $300?

Even though I usually am not looking to buy yet another house, I occasionally peruse ebay for a good deal anyway. While most homes are 200-$450, this one expired at less than $100, it has the PATIO TRIANGLES and some furniture, and still no takers, Scratching my head, but you'll see in the title, they did not label it the correct way, maybe that's why no one bought it, titles should always say, " 1978 1979 Barbie A Frame Dream House 1970's" for best exposure. Evidently, they did not turn over the house and see the dates on the bottom of no less than 6 large pieces. Also note the wet patio around it, presumably from it being freshly hosed off after decades in storage, remember never to hose off as that will rust out the screws, and not to drag the house along concrete as that will scratch the bottom floor pieces.

I was going to buy this, but the only thing I can do with it is restore and sell it, and that takes a lot of work and bout a week of my time and probably $20 worth of material, I would want at least $100 for my time and trouble, and it would not sell for over $200, thus its only worth refurbishing these if its for you to enjoy, but there is no money in it. Currently, I have my 100% complete and restored one, a spare one that needs remodeling (in storage) and so thats plenty for me.

Notice the very different titles, or key search terms that are used, one even read 'dram house' so cast a wide a net as possible, I usually search 'barbie house' first, and then 1970s, then 1978, then dream house (which can be typed as 1 or two words) and so on. Your sleuthing skills will be put to the test and rewarded handsomely. 

and you could always get a house for free this way:

UPDATE: 2023 Inflation has hit the Barbie DreamHouse market, however, deals can still be found for the diligent. Keep checking your local Facebook Marketplace listings, usually under just the terms" barbie doll house" (or dollhouse). I see them several times per month and in watching them have noticed they are slow to sell, nearly always incomplete and or dirty. The price is right however, the most incomplete with nearly no doors or windows averages around $50, I just saw a complete pink one go for $75, some are around $100-$150 but I am sure it's negotiable. Here's another one from this week:

Now, in 2023, these UN-renovated, incomplete, dirty houses go for upwards of $500-$600+ and fewer and fewer even offer shipping, check out these latest outrageous prices:

Your best bet truly is to scour Facebook Marketplace, and maybe yard sales and Craigslist, be patient, it will pay off, several times a month in my area I see generally in good shape homes go for $25-$150 some with patio triangles like these gems in the wild:

Here's another diamond in the rough, a complete with patio triangles house left in a hot, muggy, buggy old shed in the backyard for 30-40 years, but the price is a fraction of Feebay:

These deals appear nearly weekly, so you have to be diligent but it pays off if you need a house or parts:

Here is my current (early 2023) saved watch list on FB marketplace, you can see prices range from $50 to $150, it's higher than it was 10 years ago, but so much less than going through Feebay where most sellers won't even ship it anyway, but if they do I am seeing prices between $300-$750, more if it has the box and or patio triangles and furniture. 

Here is an old photo of a flip I did many years ago, I got this house dirty, faded, no flowers, missing screws and no instructions, here is how I sold it after renovation: 

And more recently on FB, it's a bit of a drive, it definitely needs a restoration, but all the parts are there and the price is right: 

Notice the level of vintage grime: plan on spending a day properly cleaning this to get it all the way ready for play or display. 

March 2024: Facebook Marketplace:

Pretty typical of what the market is these days: old, dusty, faded, mostly complete, NOT renovated, so coated in a thick layer of dust, must, rust and crust, often for TOP dollar price. 

This one would clean up well if restored, but it still is missing some pieces and needs flower box restoration as well. 

I think I see the Super Star Traveler roof panel on the second floor right side. Sadly, I think the missing flower box and door/window pieces are probably still in a box, or attic/garage someplace with this home's owner, but they can't find it so here is where they get permanently separated, the loose pieces will eventually get found and the person won't know what they go to so will either get "tossed" or donated and then "tossed" In my 16 years of collecting and restoring these homes I find that if a person can't make money on items it is then considered garbage and thrown away to spend eternity in the landfill. =-/ 

PS: thanks for putting it on concrete and in the sun! 

Usually a few pop up throughout the week:

(sometimes the same seller, so ask for a bulk discount)

Some will have the manufacture date, some will not so you could save a general "barbie house search" and get more specific from there if too many results. This seller also did not use the search term "doll" in doll house phrase, so you have to be somewhat of a sleuth to get one before it's sold. The house above sold the day it was listed. Still in need of a Reno, but mostly complete with the patio triangles was a good deal. 

This is a good deal, still needs total resto, but it looks complete, plants are easy enough to find: 

A Small House for the Doll House - Other Houses Post Summer 2018

Some stagers prefer to put a tiny house into their tiny house, it's a cute finishing touch. The pictures in this post are from vintage foreign train set houses. These were so popular from the 50's through the 70's amongst hobby enthusiasts. I speculate if I was hobbying in that time, I would have been into these. They are about 2-3 inches in size, sometimes smaller, and often meant to go into larger diorama scenes like train sets. I built a few of these as a kid such as a Howard Johnson restaurant and I think a farmhouse. The main manufacturers are Bachmann and Faller.

Then there are these 70's houses that I recently stumbled upon, I am in love!

 They come in small and larger, so check the scale before purchasing, I think the big difference is that the small one is already built and usually still has the box, the lower one pictured here is the larger one, sadly, the seller decided shipping it in a puffy envelope would protect the 40 year old box. It did not. He refunded the purchase price, so I only paid shipping. I still need to build it!

Other homes have the same roof tile, like this modern day example:

This house could have easily gotten its inspiration from our beloved 1979 A Frame DreamHouse for Barbie:

Disassembly and Repainting Video Tutorial

Not by me, but it gives you a working idea of what to do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctinnMRmmKM


It's an excellent example of refurbishing a pink 1980's Barbie A Frame Play House

Bring back an old garage sale find to it's original sparkle!

One of the things I love the most about these houses is the play of light upon it. It seems to glow in the afternoon sunlight. 

Personally, I use Rustoleum flat white to restore houses, it will take two cans to get a second coat on everything, including post covers. 

Real Life Examples: 2018-2021

Here are some fresh images of the real life inspiration behind our groovy pad.

It looks ok in this contemporary treatment, however if the entire house was white with yellow front door it would be pretty mod-tastic! 

The yellow brick road in, 'The Wiz' reminds me of our yellow flagstone floors in the 1978 Dream House . 

I know it's a bit grainy, but this is from an episode of Maude circa 1974, and it appears to be a dollhouse-like wall shelf. Since it came out 4 years before the DreamHouse featured on this blog, I wonder if the designer saw this episode and was inspired to create the house we love so much! 

Yep, I would live here. 

There's that asymmetrical lay out with lots of natural light; Americana suburbia at its best! 

Here is the real life 1981 white piano featured here in 1985 on Dynasty.

Here's another striking resemblance, they even have the yellow glass doors and diagonal slats. 

This one is in La Jolla, CA. It kind of looks like an arrow coming out of the ground. It probably costs 5-10 million, and there are other cool examples in the area, but difficult to photograph while driving. 

A New England townhome with that minimalist roofline. 

A Frame as a motel, exhibit A. 

I recognized it as soon as I drove by, had do stop and get a proper picture of it. 

An early 70s condo, in the south east with some familiar lines, exposed beams, possible closet bump out and screen vent slats, of special note is the rectilinear exterior judges paneling on both sides (ala the front doors on the A Frame House). 

Recently, in Northern California, I had the rare opportunity to see inside a 1970's A frame add on to what was originally a simple, plain mid century ranch, so there isn't an A frame downstairs, just upstairs master bed and bath, they had original antique brass chandeliers, rustic earth tone tile, brass hardware, avocado countertop, foil wallpaper, notice the bathroom rug is original and akin to the 1979 TOMY line bathroom rug that always looked like a bacon strip to me, of special note is the iron spiral staircase leading to balcony (something I think Mattel should have included with the house). I made a point to photograph because so many are remodeling and all of this is going away, so here's your chance to see it as it was originally intended. Notice the tile is very similar to the 1979 TOMY line bathroom vanity and tub, almost a perfect match. All of this, spider webs in the eaves not withstanding, appeared almost like new, in nearly mint condition, it has held up well for being around 45 years old. 

What I imagine if looking out from the center piece top floor. 

pretty close similarity if you squint your eyes 

The inspiration behind those wacky floors? 

I'm sure the real life living room would actually look something like this:

So yes, they did have a cobblestone looking floor back then. I have seen green and brown linoleum in 60s kitchens here is a sample: 

They are kind of a variation of the smaller scale tirazzo floors you sometimes see, although a cheaper version. I have seen these on original houses for sale online on Redfin. I am hoping when I buy a house I can score a mid century ranch house that's untouched so I can enjoy floors like these (along with wood cabinets, paneling etc. In other words NO painted wood or half remodels. This stuff, if taken care of is perfectly good 50-75 years later, tile and all.  =-)